Combined lamp and battery-tester.



G. RUCKARDT. COMBINED LAMP AND BATTERY TESTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-2?, |917.

Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

huma/LTO@ i4 threaded to it,

aperture, the wall 15 of which is threaded GUSTAN' RUCKRJDT, OF NEW HAMPTON, IOWA.

COMBINED LAMB .AND BATTERY-TESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pmbqgmtgdl J( @m10 159 j @jl applicatioii mea January 27, i917. seria-1 No. 144,877. A'

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, GUs'rAv RUCKARDT, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and

resident of New Hampton, in the county of Chickasaw and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Lamps and Battery-Testers, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to combinedelectric lamp and battery testers, the said invention having for its object the provision of novel means whereby it can be determined whether the battery fluid is at a. predetermined hei ht and whether the battery charge is hi `or low; the said invention being also of utility as a so-called trouble light used by motorists and others, the same being sometimes known as pocket lamps.

An object of this invention, furthermore, is to provide novel means which may be conveniently operated for changing the device so that it can be used in the two capacities heretofore indicated.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

vIn describing the invention-in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying` drawings forming part of this specification wherein like characters -denote corresponding parts in the several views, 'and in whichi Figure -l illustrates a view in elevation of a lamp embodying the invention; and

D Fig. 2 illustrates a similar view with parts broken away to more fully illustrate the relation of parts.

In these drawings 5 ,denotes a casing which is adapted to hold the usual dry .cell 6, ghe said cell having a negative terminal 7 an a tacted for establishing a circuit. The in-l terior ofthe casing has any appropriate lamp holderor socket 9 for a lamp 10, and the Isaid lamp socket has a switch plate 11 adapted to be engaged by a contact 12 carried by the slide` 13, so that as the slide is moved, the contact may be brought into or out of engagement with theswitch platevl.

The lower end of the casing has a cap and the said vcap has an for engaging the threads of a metal tube 16, which .metal tbe constitutes a renderti? positive terminal 8 adapted to be conof electricity. Situated within the said metal tube'is a wlre or conductor of electricity 17 Awith insulation 18, which insulation 1s anchored in the interior of the tube. engaging the threads by' 16 preferabl which the tuiie "is secured to the cap 14. The upper end of the conductortl? is enlarged as at 19 to ,form a contact which engages the terminal of the cell or battery to establish a circuit. The lower end of the conductor 17 carries a contact plate 20 and above the contact plate 20, there is an insulatin ller 21 so as to electrically separate the p ate 20 from the tubular portion 16. AV

metallic sleeve 22 is slidable over the tubev 16 and over the insulation, and the said sleeve is ofl a size to contact the periphery of the plate 20 so that through the instrumentality of this sleeve, the tube 16 and plate are electrically connected.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, a circuit is established through the terminal or contact 8, conductor 17, plate 20, sleeve 22,

tube 16 and the case 5' to the lamp and through the lamp to the contact 7 Vwhen the slide 17 is moved to cause engagement ofthe contact 12 and switch member 11.

For thel purpose vof testing a battery and to determine whether the Huid in thebattery is of the required height therein, lthe sleeve 22 is moved upwardl on the tube 16 or removed therefrom entlrely, so that theplate 20 is disconnected from the sleeve,.it being the purpose of the inventor to then. rely upon the elements of the battery for establishing the circuit, and the fluid of the bat` tery to bridge the space between the plate 2'and the tube 16. -It will be, of course, apparent that if the fluid is not of a height to reach from the plate 20 .to the end o f the tube, there will be an interrupted` circuit and the lamp `willnot be illuminated, wherea as the lamp will li ht ,if the fluid is of the required heightit ein the purpose of the inventor that the Iin ation shall be of a 'height equal to that required in a battery between the tops of the plates and the height of the liquid above the said plates. Furthermore, it can be determined, b observation,'whether thebattery is fui y or partially charged as the intensity of the light will enable A'an operator of eyen limited experience to determine the condition of the battery.

i In ,a wares aap miami a cas-ing, a dry cell therein having a positive and a negative-terminal7 a conductor of electricity, means for holding the said conductor in engagement With one of the terminals, a tube in which the conductor is housed and from which it is insulated, an insulator separating the conductor from the tube at the end of said tube, a means for establishing circuit vfrom the said tube to the said conductor7 and means electrically connected to the opposite pole of the battery for establishin lamp.

g circuit from the said tube to the said 2. In a combined lamp and battery tester, a conductor of electricity having insulation at one end., a tubular member in which the conductor is housed and from which itis insulated, movable member for controlling eurent from the conductor to the tubular member and adapted to cover the insulation between the conductor and tube, an,y electric cell having a terminal engaged by'fthe convductor, and means whereby circuit is established between-the said terminal and the opposite terminal of the said battery.

GUSTAV RUCKARDT.I 

